Finding My Roots

Before I started chainmaille, I used to make a lot of bead and chain necklaces.  This started when my sister and I discovered a new bead store around the time I was probably 12 or 13.  That was my introduction to jump rings, sterling silver wire, and chain.  Those designs eventually trickled down over the years, ninja-ing their way into newer designs, with little chainmaille bits here and there.  I suppose I still have it in me… it just comes out differently than I expect.

Sometimes I wonder if I need to be more cohesive with my designs and style, but I kinda think all of my creations have my signature style somewhere embedded in them.  So maybe that is enough.  Eh, I can at least be consistent with the photos that are posted on Etsy.  Need to do another shoot with the chainmaille soon.  But, I can say that I’m living up to my own motto…

“If art is a window into the soul, then my jewelry says I am strong, beautiful, and sometimes whimsical.”

Hello Thursday

February has been annoyingly busy.  I really want to do nothing but sit around at home and hide, but I have social obligations I’ve already committed myself to.  >.<  Eh, getting out is good for me and I can hide tonight and tomorrow night at the very least.

This past weekend we ended up hanging up stuff on the walls.  It was fun and Jesse has an awesome stud finder the Big Bang Theory boys would be proud to use.  It’s 4 really heavy duty magnets powerful enough to find the studs in the walls.  Pretty awesome, I have to say.  He also put together mirrors for my dance corner.  I’ve been too busy this week to test it out, but definitely soon.  Tonight I plan to tidy up the apartment some more (didn’t get a chance over the weekend, oops) and generally hide from the world.  I really enjoyed the time we had at the hot springs without Internet or cell phone reception.  I got a lot more done than I would have at home.  I wonder how I can make a habit of avoiding technology for awhile… or at least when I’m at home for a few hours.

Dinner is pretty much taken care of (thanks for the duck, Mom!) so that’s one less thing to worry about.  Whew.  Since we’re going to Vegas for the weekend, I was hoping to finish off the veggies in the fridge so they don’t go bad while we’re gone.  Shoot, we’ll need breakfast for Monday.  Guess I should stop somewhere and buy bread and crackers at the very least.  It’s nice to have crackers (plain and flavored) on hand when we decide to make hummus.  The last batch was epic with extra garlic and toasted sesame seeds.  Nom Nom Nom.

I need to finish up this bracelet, tumble it, and mail it out.  It’s taken me far longer than I would like, simply because I haven’t been home to work on it and it isn’t an easily transportable weave.  Grrr.

The paintings of the roses and butterflies were made by my dad’s first boss.  She is a wonderful artist and only her paintings will reside in my home because I have 30 years worth of her work.  The butterflies were her second to last paintings, because of her age, she is retiring.  She just recently lost her husband (at the ripe old age of 95) while we were in Alaska, so my this is my tribute to them and their wonderful inspiration over the course of my life and my father’s.

The Artist’s Way, Book 2, Walking In This World, Week 5

Dates/Walks/Pages: I did most of my pages… we’ll leave it at that…

This week has turned into a month, but it’s been a good month.  Thanksgiving was awesome (Jesse caught a lobster!) and we started moving into the apartment.  Moving, by far, has been foremost on my mind because I want to settle in and nest.  So far I’ve organized my closet enough that it still has enough room for the stuff I still have here.  Yay!

This chapter is about romancing your inner artist and treating it like a love affair.  Interestingly enough, Jesse and I managed to fit 2 bookshelves and both our desks in the bedroom.  I’m actually really happy with the layout, even though I haven’t taken any pictures other than the one of my desk initially.  ;)  The energy in the apartment has been very soothing and my desk begs me to start creating and daydreaming.  Soon… very soon. ♥

Last Saturday I got to nurture some good friendships that I’ve been neglecting because of all the wedding chaos.  It was really nice to spend the day hanging out with friends, eating awesome food, and going bead shopping (Yay Gem Faire!)  I guess with age, comes a little bit of wisdom (at the cost of our youth). Gem Faire was awesome and my new favorite rock guy remembered me.  I got some really awesome apatite teardrops that are just simply yummy.  I can’t wait to play with those.  Also scored some awesome rhodolite garnet and multi-colored tourmaline.  Awesome-sauce.

It would be obvious if I said my creative soul is itching to make stuff.  I’ve been slowly gathering/hoarding supplies, waiting for the right moment to bust it all out and go all out.  That time is coming and I’m just being patient.  I already have a great idea for identifying our stockings.

3 more days… dun dun DUN!

Yay for Sunstone!

I finished the charm bracelet I started yesterday.  Wow, actually productive.  Very impressive.  I put it on and ever since I did, I decided to hang up some clothes, spend a few minutes tossing stuff off my dresser, etc.  I guess sunstone really does help de-stress and kick your butt into gear.  Perfect bracelet to say, “La la la”.

And after going through a ton of pajamas, my favorites still include the nightgown with the sheep.  You can catch a glimpse at the bottom of the picture.

Love Really Does Conquer All

I finally hit my La la la mood yesterday.  Jesse came over Friday and Saturday to help me clean up and get ready for the painters to paint the hallway.  So we went through a bunch of random junk, stuffed the linen closet, then attacked my pile of clothes.  He was a good sport throughout the whole process and I now have a nice pile of donations to make.  We moved on to my room where he parked himself on my bed while I put all my hoodies on hangers and went through my dresses.  He likes dresses without prints because they should be worn by older women.  Bah, I love prints that look like old country quilts… cabbage roses and such.  That was fun.

The real thing I was astounded at was the fact that he only teased me a little bit about the state of my room, but other than that, he respected my space.  He didn’t touch things, ask how much this cost, and was generally very pleasant about the whole thing.  Yes, I can marry this man and live with him for what I hope to be forever.  He even bonded with my dad over the messy state of my room.

I was so happy after he left, that I decided to start stamping round copper blanks for a “Jesse loves Hui” charm bracelet.  I haven’t figured out the design yet, but the blanks I started working on are adorable.  I also started testing out the smallest blanks I have (I figured since I ordered another 100 that I should play with them O_O) and they’re so darn cute!  OMG, I’m so much in love.  ♥♥♥

Really, hopefully this is the future I’m looking forward to.  A life partner, the moral support I need to take over the world, or to just clear out old junk.  Clear the obstructions in the way of truly living a creative life.  ♥♥♥

Chainmaille with a Hui-Twist

In Sashi’s “Spirit of the Dance” workshop, she tells us we need 2 things in our back pockets in order to pull off a good performance.  Technique and knowing your choreography.  Applying that concept to jewelry, I have my skills and how to seamlessly link those skills together.  My skills are my color techniques, and most importantly, my chainmaille skills.  Unfortunately, I know I can’t build a career off of my chainmaille skills alone.  It’s too left brained and not creative enough.  Of course, I’ll always showcase it because it is my foundation, but it’s not the icing on the cake.  The embellishment is.  But this piece would look silly with beads…

It’s strong enough to stand on its own without adornment.  So, that’s where I am right now… caught between skill and the icing on the cake.  I love both and I will continue to create both.  I’m just trying to pinpoint who I am as an artist.  Definitely a chainmaille artist.  What I really need to do is sit down with my glass beads and play with them again.  I really think that will be the best way to challenge myself and get things done creatively.  Interesting focal beads, a good play on color, and definitely not trendy.

Yeah, I need to make more designs like this.  Chainmaille with a Hui-Twist.

Drooling Over Iolite

My favorite crazy pirate rock lady never fails to deliver the best and sometimes unusual stones I’ve ever found.  It’s really quite amazing, I must say.  Normally you find average sized iolites, really tiny and faceted iolites, but not this time…

Yes, can you say, “HUGE”?  :D  So awesome.  Just plain awesome.

So yes, last night I was sitting at my desk and decided to poke around to see what I had lying around.  I picked up my stash of iolites, newly acquired from the Pasadena Bead Show, and something hit me.  I picked up the hunking strand of iolites, picked out the best one that called to me and made a pendant.  Dug around some more and made a chain.  I loved this stone so much, I even wore to sleep.  I almost never do that, but the energy of this thing has been so me.  It’s been perfect.  Iolite is believed to help you find your inner self and separate your mind and emotions.  Yup, definitely been needing that kind of positive energy.

I already sold a set to a friend… just need to finish off the pendant and dump it all in the tumbler to make it shiny.  I definitely need to make another of my absolute favorite pendants that exclusively shows of good sized teardrops.  I did make one with an iolite drop… wore it once before I sold it to my dentist.  I think that was the design I was testing out and decided it was a good design when Sashi was like, “OMG, that’s an awesome necklace!”  Anything Sashi-approved is good for me.

So yeah, these are my drool-worthy iolite teardrops…

And my favorite pendant EVER… maybe, but I love it regardless…

…

Noooooooooooooooooooo, I blame Jesse for making me too busy to NOT UPLOAD A PICTURE OF THIS EPIC DESIGN!!!

Note to Self:  Take more pictures of inventory before selling them!!! /slap

Stampington & Company

I don’t buy jewelry magazines.  I’ve reached a level to say that I don’t want DIY projects.  I want something I can take and put my own spin on it so it’s uniquely mine.  I haven’t found any magazines like that, so I continue to purchase bead books that are inspiring to me.

One magazine company I really recommend is Stampington & Company.  They publish 4 times a year and are a little more pricey, but so worth the extra $$$.  I’m currently subscribing to Where Women Create and Artful Blogging.  I discovered Where Women Create when my dad and I were at the Barnes and Noble in November of 2009.  It was nothing short of amazing.  I couldn’t put the darn thing down and it helped me get through a really rough time period.  Later on, I decided to fork over the cash to subscribe to both.  I’ve been attempting to take more pictures for the blog, but it’s been hard.  Not sure why.

Oh well.  I’ll leave you with a picture of some of my pink seatbelt purses.

An Interesting Crossroads

With this newfound lust for straight up chainmaille now, I’ve been wondering what to do with all my stones.  I shouldn’t just give up the dream of beads and chainmaille fused together in harmony.  It’s just interesting to wonder what happens next.  Well, the first step should be organizing my stones and putting them back into the hanging jewelry organizer.  That will take some time.  I was searching through my email last night and stumbled upon the last email I received from S.  He said, “you should always study hard in absolutely anything.”  It struck me as something to take to heart.  I also was reading the Wikipedia page about J Paul Getty and one of his rules for success was rising early and working hard.  Need to work on the going to bed early so I can rise early part, but the working hard part doesn’t seem too difficult.  Isn’t that the key to making something of ourselves?  Working hard, but smartly, of course.  Yeah.  Mind over matter… stop thinking and just do it.

So I think my answer to do just what I do best.  Make jewelry.

Finally, Pictures!

Alright, I have some new goodies to show off!  Finally!  Yay!

So I was possessed to hammer something and I decided it would be in copper with my favorite strand of pretty sunstone nuggets that just sparkle with golden bits everywhere.  Copper is soft so it makes me wary to use it in 22g or 24g.  But hammered and 20g is awesome.  Hehehe.  Lacey commented that the star on the toggle looks like the Harveys star.  Totally coincidence.

The second piece I have for your viewing pleasure is a gorgeous necklace that was inspired by the 8th season of Charmed.  Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) was wearing a lot of half/quarter necklaces that framed her neck/cleavage area very tastefully.  I wanted to use these beautiful garnets I’ve been sitting on since Christmas and I’ve been itching to use more textured jump rings. /squee